Maelstrom
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: This is another Bleach/Magi crossover. Fem Ichigo story. no pairings as of yet. I got nothing as far as a summery goes. Just check it out for yourselves.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone stood on the cliff overlooking the ocean where Princess Dunya's funeral was being held, awaiting Aladdin's arrival. It had been four days since the young Princess had passed away in the presence of Sinbad, Yamraiha, and the young magi Aladdin. And Aladdin had been acting oddly unlike his usual cheerful, and oddball-ish self ever since.

Sinbad and his generals had received more than one report from the palace guards about the young boy locking himself away in his room and refusing to come out to eat, drink or even to _speak_ to his friends.

The king and his right hand man, Ja'far had tried multiple times to coax the boy out of his room in the past few days but to no avail. Aladdin hadn't seemed to give a damn that he was scaring them.

And while Sinbad and everyone including many of his palace guards understood that the boy was busy grieving- none knew the true depths of Aladdin's sorrow at Dunya's passing.

"It's been over an hour," Ja'far said anxiously from beside his king as his green eyes watched the small trail that led to the cliff carefully for some kind of movement. Actually scratch that. He was looking for any kind of Aladdin-like movement from somewhere beyond the foliage. "He should have been here by now, shouldn't he?"

"Stop worrying so much Ja'far," Sinbad chided the younger man gently before saying, "Aladdin was truly distressed by the Princesses death. We can't expect him to pull himself together at the snap of one's fingers. He'll be here when he get's here and not a moment before. Now kindly stop complaining-" He stopped speaking as the underbrush parted and Aladdin suddenly appeared.

At first everyone seemed relieved that the young boy had finally left his room, but upon catching a second look of the boy- their relieved expressions changed to horror.

Aladdin looked paler than normal, the boy's normally lively and expressive eyes were dull and devoid of life. His features were weary, and haggard. His normally clean kept long back-ish blue colored hair was loose from his usual trademark braid. His clothing was torn and he had blood on his small hands, and bruises on other various parts of his small body.

Face, neck, arms, ribs, stomach, legs.

_Just what the hell had the boy been doing to himself?_ Sinbad wondered in concern as Aladdin stumbled past his friends without greeting them, bypassed the white lilies that had been picked and brought for the funeral, and headed straight for the stone where Dunya's body lay.

Before finally coming to rest when he suddenly fell to his knees next to the stone platform with his head bowed some and heaved a tired sigh.

He sat there in silence for several heartbeats, with his long hair falling over his shoulders and in his face. Partially hiding it from view before finally saying, "I feel lost," In a choked sounding voice before saying sadly. "It isn't often that I walk this world. Nor is it often that I manage to come across one of my own..."

There were quiets sounds of shock from those around him as they tried to process what Aladdin had just said.

"From what little I have learned of magi's while I've been here, I know that we usually do not have families. Whether it's because they are killed, or die during difficult times, or they are simply ripped away from us so that we are forced to walk the world alone... I have been in this world for such a short time and yet I have found at least three uncles, one mother, two sisters, and four brother's... that I recognize as mine."

"I've met them, spoken with them, laughed with them, and yet I've already lost two of them. And I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to meet them again in this life nor any other. And for that reason, and because I couldn't protect you nor save you, I _feel_ so, so very lost." His voice broke as he bowed his head and tears began slipping down his face as he sobbed.

Sinbad started to break away from the others to get Aladdin and try to comfort him but before he could take more than a half step forward something flared along the edge of his senses. Some...nagging feeling of pure apprehension as the light around Aladdin shifted, shimmered, danced and then seemed to bend and then gather together to create something that looked strangely akin to the shadowy figure of a person and then quickly dispersed while a faint almost ghostly figure appeared behind the boy.

His breath caught in his throat, Sinbad watched as the ghostly figure solidified and then reached out and laid a delicate hand on the boy's head causing him to stop sobbing for a moment and snap his head up to look and see who was touching him.

His eyes widening slightly in shock as he stared at the tall and imposing figure of a reddish-blond haired young woman wearing strange clothing appeared directly behind the boy.

Aladdin's breath left his lungs in a rush and he shouted as he threw himself against the woman's body, his small thin arms wrapping around her waist as he buried his face against her stomach crying, "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

Everyone seemed to freeze up upon hearing the small boy crying out 'Mama'. Their minds reeling from the shock of what was happening before their eyes as the woman bent down and carefully scooped the boy up in her arms and then straightened her spine.

"Hey, squirt. What'cha crying for?" She asked in a soft, raspy tone.

She had a beautiful voice, even if it was somewhat exhausted.

Aladdin was still crying, though the woman's presence seemed to have calmed him considerably as he shook his head and then wrapped his arms around the woman's neck and buried his face against her shoulder.

She absently reached up with her free hand and lightly patted the boy's back as he told her what was going on. By the time he explained why he was so upset, her eerie turquoise eyes flickered towards Dunya's body and she made a barely audible humming sound before sighing softly. And with more grace than any person should possess, dropped down to sit on the ground and settled Aladdin in her lap and just held him patiently while he continued to cry.

The rest of the funeral went as planned, though Aladdin, as exhausted physically and emotionally as he was- finally seemed to slip into an unconscious state in the woman's arms. Leaving the king of Sindria in the rather awkward position of going and making an attempt of taking the boy from the unknown woman. Who was watching the flames from her spot next to the funeral pyre as they slowly ate away at Dunya's body.

Stepping forward, Sinbad awkwardly cleared his throat and tried to think of what to say to the woman to get her to hand Aladdin over without a fight. "Excuse me...miss...b-but um-" He started to say when she slowly turned her head to look at him and simply said,

"I'd let you have him if I could. But he's sort of holding on pretty tightly at the moment." She reached up to move some of her hair aside from her shoulder and Sinbad saw that Aladdin was clutching the long strands tightly in his small hand.

Sinbad stood up a little bit straighter and blinked at the woman, his mind absolutely full of questions that he so-very-desperately longed to have answered.

"M-May I ask you're name, miss?" He finally managed to articulate enough to ask.

"Ichigo."

"Ichigo? Is that a name from the country of the Kou empire?" He asked, his mind already somewhat suspicious of her. Though not terribly so, he just really didn't like the mere idea that Aladdin or anyone from his family could have strong ties to the Kou. They were their enemies after all.

The woman merely looked at him strangely for a moment before shifting her gaze back towards the fire and muttered tiredly, "No."

His next question was, "How did you get past the barrier protecting our kingdom?"

The woman's head snapped back in his direction so quickly that her neck popped. Loudly and painfully enough to make him flinch slightly at the sound as she asked in an incredulous tone, "There's a barrier?" Her expression was a mixture of startled and confused.

If not for how serious she sounded and the current situation they all had found themselves in- he might have thought her jesting with him. But unfortunately, she wasn't. She genuinely seemed to be unaware of the fact that Sindria was behind a protective barrier.

In fact, she seemed as if it had never even once occurred to her that Sindria might be behind a barrier at all.

He studied her for a moment, not really comprehending how she couldn't know about the barrier when he'd never seen her around the island before. So to his knowledge there was no way that she could have just been hanging around his kingdom _unknown_ to him or anyone else.

_Could she?_

"May I ask how Aladdin came to call you mother?" He asked curiously, wanting to at least have all of the information possible before making any snap judgements about her. Though he could tell already that she obviously wasn't a bad or terrible person. Aladdin wouldn't be so attached to her if she was.

It was against a magi's nature to attach themselves to evil people.

She blinked at him again and then frowned and then slowly said, "Cause he's mine. I carried him and gave birth to him."

"O-Oh." Sinbad said with wide disbelieving eyes. He couldn't believe that he was maybe actually looking at Aladdin's flesh and blood, _living_, mother! Magi's usually didn't have families outside of those that they met and bonded with while they traveled the world and picked and chose their king's candidates. However if the woman really was Aladdin's mother then she must be quite powerful in her own right. After all, someone who could birth a magi had to be. _Right?_ "I see... I-Is his father still-"

"He's dead." She said flatly. Her tone telling him that he should tread carefully.

"Oh." Sinbad muttered, not really knowing what else to say about that particular subject, so he dropped it and then asked, "W-Would you like to stay with Aladdin here in Sindria and rest a spell? I'm sure that you'll be comfortable here. And he...would miss you if you were to leave him so soon after coming here."

She was silent for a heartbeat or two before slowly nodding her head in agreement.

Dunya's body had been reduced to nothing but ashes by this point, before any of them even thought to begin to file away from the area. Sinbad's general's decided to stay back along with Alibaba, Morgiana, Hakuyuu to see if Aladdin was alright as Sinbad, reached his hand out to help the woman to her feet, and once she was standing again, slowly began the walk back to the palace so that he could see to it that Aladdin and his mother were taken care of.

* * *

Sinbad sat back in his seat once he was certain that Yamriha was finished cleaning and tending to the bloody cuts and dark bruises littering Aladdin's body and sighed heavily.

_So this was what it was like when a magi mourned someone._

It was eerily strange to see such a powerful inhuman creature act so- so damned_ human_. Sure he technically knew that magi's were born of mankind. But they, themselves were ancient and somewhat ageless beings. Keepers of men, and knowledge and wielders of great power.

He knew how to handle a typical magi. Since most of them were somewhat calculating in their actions, but he didn't know how to handle Aladdin or his apparent breakdown. Nor the abrupt and sudden appearance of his unknown mother.

_Perhaps it's because he is still very much a child_. He wondered to himself when he heard a soft knock at his bedroom door and called out to bid the person knocking, to enter. The large heavy wooden door to his chamber opened and Ja'far peeked in with a worried look on his face.

"Come in Ja'far," Sinbad said without looking away from the boy currently resting comfortably on his bed as the younger man entered quietly and walked over to where he sat and paused by his side before Sinbad demanded, "What do you have to report?"

"I've had Aladdin's room checked. Apparently he had been throwing himself against the walls and floors with enough force to injure himself. I noticed some of his blood in certain places all around the room..." Sinbad sighed tiredly and scrubbed his face with his hands, taking his eyes off of the young magi for just a second seemed to yield nearly _deadly_ results._ It's no wonder his mother appeared_, Sinbad thought as Ja'far went on to say, "I'm very worried about Aladdin, Sin. I've never heard of a magi reacting to anything so violently before."

"Nor have I." Sinbad admitted with a small frown.

"What do you think it means? When a magi reacts violently to something, I mean?"

"That I cannot say. For all of our knowledge of magi's, they are still very mysterious beings. All that I can say is that we may need to keep a closer eye on Aladdin from now on. And maybe keep his mother from leaving for now. At least until he starts acting normally again."

"Yes, my king." Ja'far said with a respectful bow before rising and turning to go and start assigning duties to the others.

* * *

Neither Aladdin nor his mother, Ichigo were seen that evening for dinner- which was somewhat understandable to them all. Especially given how banged up Aladdin was. And Yamriha had reported that the woman had watched her carefully earlier. Her keen eyes scrutinizing her for any signs of a potential threat to Aladdin's well being.

Sinbad had nodded his acknowledgement upon hearing this, and then decided to try and send some food for the two since neither of them were likely to show up later on to get themselves something to eat.

One of his servant's reported that they had found the food, untouched on a table outside of Aladdin's room. Rejected. Leaving the king to sit back and plan out his next move.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Sinbad was on his way to breakfast with several of his friends when they caught sight of Ichigo walking sown the hall, looking more than a little bit lost. He heard Ja'far mutter, "Oh dear." And couldn't help the amused smile that tugged at his lips as he agreed with the man's sentiments.

The poor young woman looked completely and utterly lost. Couple that with that fact that she kept staggering a little bit and shaking her head while trying to bite back tired yawns. And he_ knew_ that she must have been wandering his palace halls for quite some time.

Deciding that it was best to intervein, Sinbad called out. "Lady Ichigo!" The woman turned her head and looked at him, hard. It was a mite difficult to know if she was pleased to see anyone or not due to the dark scowl on her pretty face. "Hello, m'lady and good morning to you." He said jovially and had to bite the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing aloud when the woman came walking up and all but growled at him.

"What's so damned good about it?"

Sinbad heard several of his generals snigger behind him and smiled at the woman's response as he studied her. She looked...well, she had been strikingly lovely yesterday upon her arrival. But today, she was just- _breathtaking_. She'd bathed at some point, and tamed her messy hair a bit.

She had the near waist length silken locks artfully arranged to be more flattering to her features while the rest of it had been collected and pulled up- not in a ponytail but some sort of simple twist that she had up off of her nape by a...hair comb? made of colorful shell inlay with a pretty pink and white floral design that Sinbad had never seen before.

And her clothing...well they were still strange to him. The clothes seemed to be made of some sort of cotton fabric. Her shirt was a form fitted black with a white over shirt, and her legs were encased in tight blue leggings and she was wearing odd looking boots.

"You are looking quite well this morning, m'lady. Did you have a chance to rest at all?"

She shrugged but otherwise didn't comment as he chuckled. The more he interacted with the woman, the more he realized that she wasn't much of a chatterbox like her young son obviously was.

It was as confusing to him as it was refreshing.

He was about to ask her if she wanted himself and his generals to escort her to the dinning room to eat when all of a sudden he was interrupted by someone screaming like a banshee from somewhere down the hall. "Where is she?! Where is that little good for nothing punk?!"

He blinked at the distinctly female voice as Ichigo stiffened and then cast himself and his generals a slightly apologetic look as someone came barreling down the hall, shouting something along the lines of- "She's here!" Followed by someone else joining them and shouting- "I got her!" mere moments before she was tackled to the ground.

The two hit the floor hard and rolled a few feet before coming to a complete stop with Ichigo on her back looking slightly dazed and her unknown red headed attacker pinning her in place and then quickly grabbing her and then started to drag her- yes, literally drag her back the way that he'd come as a few more people rounded the end of the hallway and joined him.

"I got her! I got her!" The guy called out, sounding very happy with himself while Sinbad and his generals all stood there watching the spectacle in near slack jawed disbelief. After all, it wasn't everyday that any of them saw such..._whatever_ the hell this was. A semi-incompetent attempt at kidnapping? And for once Sinbad wasn't the victim.

Still it didn't exactly sit well with the king to see one of his guests treated in such a manner. Especially when said guest was a woman who also happened to be Aladdin's mother.

"Um...excuse me-" He started to say when all of a sudden Ichigo seemed to snap out of her dazed funk and slipped herself out of her overshirt and flipped herself up onto her feet again and gave her would be kidnapper a wicked smirk before dashing towards the nearest window and jumping out of it.

Sinbad's eyes widened in horror and he made a weird sound in the back of his throat as he tried to recall how far up the window was from the ground. Ten feet? Fifteen? No it was probably closer to twenty something. Either way, the poor woman was bound to have _more_ than just a few bumps and scrapes from a straight free fall from such a height.

Sinbad and his generals may be able to pull off jumping out a window like that, but to their knowledge Ichigo didn't have the kind of abilities that they did.

"Sharkkan, Spartos, Yamriha, please capture those intruders and place them somewhere for questioning. Hinahoho, Masrur and I will go and collect Lady Ichigo. Ja'far please wait here on standby to treat her injuries." Sinbad said as he turned and started to walk back towards the window. As much as he would like to take the door this time, he _really_ was concerned for Ichigo's wellbeing.

So taking the window would be much faster and better suited for his purpose. Though he did take a moment to watch in savage pleasure as the red headed man that had attempted to kidnap Aladdin's mother was tackled to the ground after letting out a shrill and girly scream of alarm.

* * *

Ichigo was hiding in the highest branches of a tree in the royal garden when Siband and the others found her.

Masrur had tracked the scent of her blood. Which, Sinbad would admit, he was more than a little bit pissed about. He had half the mind to order someone's execution- however decided not too once he learned that the blood found was a very little amount and in all likelihood came from a very _small_ injury.

"Lady Ichigo? Will you come down please?" Sinbad called out as he squinted his eyes a little bit in hopes that he could catch a glimpse of the woman and let out a startled sounding yelp when she suddenly swung herself down so that she was hanging upside down just a few inches from him.

"Sorry." She muttered as he held on to Hinahoho's arm and placed his other hand against his chest in an effort to calm his frantically beating heart.

He held up a hand after a moment or so and waved her apology off as he slowly turned back to her and looked her over. "You're injured," He meant it to be a question but it sounded more like an accusation. She crossed her arms over her chest for a moment and then looked away, her expression uneasy. "Will you at least tell us where you are hurt?" He finally asked.

She didn't speak, merely swung herself back up into the tree for a moment and then dropped back down, this time right side up- and hung there by one hand as she showed them one of her legs. The side of it had been split open almost from her knee to her ankle somehow.

Frowning, Sinbad reached out slowly to take her leg in his hands so that he could get a closer look at the injury. The leg of her pants and her flesh had been ripped or torn by something. That much was plain to see by the way the injury looked. And while it may not require any stitches, it was definitely deep-ish.

"What happened?" He asked after a moment or so of examining the wound.

"Oh...uh... A plant caught me- _I think_."

He raised a brow at her words and was tempted to parrot her,_ I think_, right back at her but held his tongue about it and simply moved on to his questions about the people that had been after her.

"Who were those people chasing you?"

"Friends."

"Friends?" He didn't think that he believed her. And from the look on her face, she knew that. "Do you're friends make a habit of tackling you and such often?"

"More than I care to admit." She said with a half shrug as Sinbad reached out and placed his hands on her waist and patiently waited for her to released the tree limb that she was hanging from. She sighed as if it were troublesome to do so, but let go anyways and allowed him to place her on her feet on the ground.

"I see. So you're friends tend to get violent with you often." It wasn't a question. If anything it was a perplexed observation.

She gave an unlady like snort. "It's better than the alternative, believe me." She was so cryptic in her responses that he felt the need to try asking.

"And what is the alternative?"

She didn't say anything more after that, much to his chagrin. But it didn't really matter. He'd get his answers one way or another.


	3. Chapter 3

The moment that they were back inside the palace, they all heard Aladdin's voice shouting loudly, "Mama!" As the boy ran up to them and skidded to a halt several feet from his mother and frowned upon seeing her leg all bloody and raw looking. "Mama, what happened to you're leg?"

"Freak accident with a plant." Ichigo replied with a small smile.

"A plant!"

"Yeah, don't you know that you aren't supposed to pick fights with them? They tend to hurt you if you do." She said the words with such a straight face that Sinbad had to look away from the young boy's face just to keep from laughing aloud at his expression of utter _comical_ horror.

Whereas both Hinahoho and Masrur had no problem at all with laughing at the boy's expression.

Finally Aladdin seemed to pull himself together enough to ask, "B-But why did you pick a fight with a plant, mama?" Apparently he was having a little bit of a difficult time understanding why Ichigo would do such a thing.

Ichigo merely shrugged her shoulders and then said, "I'm just weird that way." At which point Aladdin couldn't think of anything else to say for the moment, and just nodded his head in acknowledgement of her weirdness. Apparently the fact that she was weird was much less difficult to imagine than picking a fight with a plant and getting hurt.

Or something to that effect.

"Okay mama, you can lean on me and I'll help you walk." Aladdin said as he moved over to her, taking up a position on the left of her where her injured leg was and waited patiently for her to put a hand on his shoulder or something. And he positively _beamed_ with pride once she finally did.

The sight of the two of them staggering around the palace halls, talking together, smiling and laughing, was just precious. Really it was. However it came to an end once they reached their destination and Ichigo finally sat down as Ichigo ruffled Aladdin's hair and asked, "Have you eaten anything for breakfast yet?"

"Yes. Didn't you?"

"I never even made it to the dinning room."

"I'll go get you something then! What would you like?"

"Whatever is fine. But if you can find me an apple or orange to eat with whatever you bring back- that would be great."

"Okay!" Aladdin chirped and then turned to leave but was stopped cold when he heard his mom say.

"Did you forget something kid," Groaning the boy turned back around and walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek earning a few sniggers from Sinbad and the other two men. "Cute. But not what I was referring to." She said as she made a subtle motion with her head towards the three men.

Aladdin followed the subtle motion and looked at them before grinning in understanding. "I got it." He chirped as he patted his mother on the shoulder and then dashed off as Ja'far entered the room and quickly had to side step the boy to prevent himself from being mowed down by him.

"Aladdin!" He called out once it was safe to assume that the boy wouldn't be knocking him over, "Don't run like that in the palace! You'll trip!" However Aladdin didn't listen to him. Huffing slightly in aggravation he then turned to her and the others.

Sinbad noted that Ichigo's demeanor went from relaxed to completely tense in the span of a second as J'afar walked over to her and then dropped to his knees in front of her and took hold of her injured leg and studied it as he absently said, "By the way Sin, those strange people were apprehended like you ordered."

Ichigo visibly cringed upon hearing that her 'friends' had been captured. Apparently she had forgotten that Sinbad had told her that they would be as Masrur quietly left Hinahoho's side to get a basin of water, and a few clean rags for the man to use.

"I see, thank you Ja'far." Sinbad said as he watched the woman. Her body language was all but screaming,_ guilt. _

"I wonder how they got into the palace in the first place?" Ja'far wondered aloud as he slowly begun cleaning the injury with the water and stuff that Masrur had gotten for him as Ichigo visibly cringed.

"I was sort of wondering that myself..." Sinbad said as he looked at Ichigo, and frowned a little bit when she hunched in on herself in an effort to make herself smaller.

That wasn't a normal reaction for a person to have. Sinbad thought to himself and started to open his mouth to ask her why she was trying to make herself smaller, however he had to stop himself as Aladdin finally came back into the room with Alibaba, Morginana and Hakuryuu hot on his heels. His turban was off and floating behind him, the fabric of the magic item was heavy laden with all kinds of different foods.

"I got food for you, Mr. Sinbad, Mr. Hinahoho and Mr. Masrur just like I said!" Aladdin said happily as he skipped over to Ichigo and made quick work of climbing up on the chair so that he could sit on the arm of it while everyone watched him.

"Good job, squirt." Ichigo said with a small smile as she reached out and ran her fingertips lightly along the bare skin of his stomach eliciting a giggle from the boy as he tried desperately to both maintain his balance on the arm of the chair and squirm away from her ticklish touch.

"Oh! I got some oranges and apples for you too." Aladdin said once he finally stopped giggling and squirming. If not for the fact that Sinbad and Ja'far had seen the woman grasp the sash around the boy's waist as he started to squirm then Aladdin would have certainly fallen off and possibly suffered a bruise or something.

Ichigo smiled at him and muttered, "I can see that squirt. What did you do? Raid the pantry?"

"Nope! Alibaba, Morg and Hakuryuu helped me find stuff. They even helped me find you some apples and oranges. They're my friends mama, and they're really nice and I brought them here so that you could meet them."

Ja'far had just finished his task of cleaning and wrapping her leg and was picking everything up so that he could move out of the way as Ichigo nodded her head as Aladdin waved the three over.

The kids were young.

Between the ages of sixteen and eighteen.

Which was far too young in Ichigo's opinion, to have _seen_ and _suffered_ the horrors and tragedies that they each had. Reaching up she absently rubbed at the place between her eyes. She could feel a headache coming on from the projections of their memories entering her mind. Things that the kids had seen, felt, witnessed- _Jesus fucking Christ_\- it was a wonder that the three hadn't gone absolutely bat-shit insane just yet.

The blond kid was the first to introduce himself.

Alibaba was a special kid. To be perfectly honest, they each were special. But the blond...

He would cheat death and change the destiny of the world.

Her lips twitched slightly as she reached out and shook his hand. He had a good, strong- yet firm grip. That was good. It meant that the boy wasn't half the wimp that he appeared to be.

The girl wasn't a wimp either. But then she wasn't really human.

A magical beast bound to human form.

She wondered idly if her son and the others realized just how lucky they were to have her with them. But then decided that the kids were idiots and likely wouldn't realize just how lucky they were to have the girl around until later. Boys- it would seem, were dumbasses no matter their age and level of maturity. No matter. The girl would stick with them and watch over them regardless.

The last boy- he concerned her the most at the moment.

There was a festering wound inside of his heart just filled with darkness and bloodlust. Oh sure, he didn't seem to be influenced by it overly much. _Yet_. But the fact remained that it was there.

The darkness seemed to be compounded by the boy's uncertainty and lack of belief in himself. Of course the recent loss of his arm didn't seem to help things very much either. He was self conscious, had no faith in himself. Sighing to herself, she slowly stood up and muttered, "Yade yade, what am I going to do with you kids."

It wasn't a question. Not really anyways.

She already knew some of what she was going to do. One of which was help the boy, Hakuryuu in any way that she could. She imagined that with his biological mother being the leader of a evil organization that he had quite a lot of 'mommy' issues and was likely also affection and touch starved.

She'd have to fix that by giving him what he needed.

"Let me see you're arm." She said, deciding to be blunt instead of tactful. She understood well that he was bothered by the loss of his arm, but really she saw nothing for him to be ashamed of.

Hakuryuu's smile faltered and then vanished altogether as she reached out to touch him on his shoulder. He flinched back away from her hands as Alibaba yelled at her to stop.

She didn't listen though and the moment that her hands settled on what was left of his missing arm, Hakuryuu lashed out. It was an accident. But he was freaking out and wasn't all that happy at the moment with the woman who was Aladdin's mother.

His fist made contact with her face, the sickening crack echoing loudly in the suddenly silent room as his stomach started to churn the moment that realization of what he'd just done, hit him. He quickly clapped his good hand to his mouth and stared at Ichigo's bloody face in abject _horror._

Ichigo simply stood there mentally cataloging how badly he'd hurt her and figured that her nose wasn't broken- it hurt like a bitch, but the cartilage didn't feel damaged or snapped or misshapen. Which was good. However the blood running down her face was a little bit concerning to her.

"Oh my god-" Ja'far shouted as Aladdin gave a panicked sounding, "Mama!"

The two of them started to move to check on her but she held a hand up and stopped them before turning back to Hakuryuu and asking, "Do you feel better now?"

The poor boy looked on the verge of a panic attack as he tried to choke out an apology. Ichigo merely waved her hand to indicate that she didn't want him to apologize as she reached out again and this time simply wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

The teen gave a strained sounding sob as she spoke to him. "It's alright kid. I'm not mad. And you didn't hurt me. So please, just calm down." She rubbed his back in a soothing manner as the poor kid started crying and used the face that he was distracted to run her other hand gently along the length of his stub as she focused her power. If he felt it, he didn't react. Though Sinbad and a couple of the others stood a little bit straighter and watched what she was doing with keen interest.

Ichigo paid them no mind as she slowly but surly began to rebuild and re structure the boy's missing arm down to the last detail. The whole process must have taken no more than five minutes because she had precious little time before he noticed that_ something_ was going on. But she managed to finish her task and then slowly let him go.

He was still crying and stammering out apologies- so he didn't notice right away that there was anything different with his body. Hell the kid was so distraught that he didn't even notice right off when he used his new arm a few times to wipe at his face.

But she knew the exact moment that he realized that he had his arm again. There was simply no mistaking that sharp intake of breathe nor the way that his mismatched eyes flew to her face.

"I-I- How-"

"You're my son's friend." She said. As if that explained everything when it simply left more questions as she went on to say. "What other reason do I really need?" Nothing else really needed to be said. Not by her anyways.

The kids all stared at her flabbergasted, while Sinbad and his generals merely stared at her in confusion? Disbelief, sure. There was enough of that anyways. There was shock too.

It didn't really matter to her though. Remaking the boy's arm had left her feeling tired and worn and frankly she just wanted to go and lay down before she fell down and embarrassed herself. Edging away from everyone, she silently headed for the door unaware that every eye in the room was on her back until she heard Aladdin's voice say, "Thank you mama."

She turned to look at her son, a small frown marring her face as she took in his wide happy smile and then nodded at him and continued out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

After Ichigo had left the room, it erupted into total chaos. And for good reason too.

It wasn't everyday that someone 'regenerated' a lost limb in front of their very eyes. And what was even more perplexing was the fact that no magic and no sort of healing spell had even been used. Hell, even if they had been- the result _still_ wouldn't have been the total regeneration of an entire flesh and blood limb.

Which begged the question, Just what the hell had Ichigo done?

Aladdin wasn't much help when Sinbad had turned to him and started firing off questions. The boy simply either didn't know anything, or had no idea that his mother had been able to do such a thing. He even went so far as to say, that he'd not been aware that his mother had any sort of power.

And that was what it really boiled down to.

_Power._

Ichigo obviously had some kind of power. But the fact that Aladdin, a magi however young, didn't realize that she had it- spoke volumes about the lengths the woman had gone just to hide it.

So now...now Sinbad had no idea what to do. On one hand, a person with such power would be highly sought after and coveted if anyone outside of Sindria. And that could cause problems for them later on. But on the other hand...would it be considered cruel of him to want to keep the woman in Sindria?

Maybe figure out how her power's worked and see if she could train others to do what she had?

Having a few dozen people or so that could regenerate limbs on others could be used as a medical advantage. And who knew, maybe such a power could even be applied to other things as well. To help people who were sick and dying.

Would she even want to help with such an endeavor? He wondered as he and the others left the kids to marvel over Hakuryuu's good fortune.

"Sin? What are you thinking?" Ja'far asked curiously. Though he needn't have bothered. He already knew some of what his king was thinking. And right now the wheels in his friend's mind were going a mile a minute.

And right now, his king was planning to try and sway the woman into staying.._.indefinitely_. He just worried about the lengths that Sinbad would go to to make Ichigo stay in Sindria.

"I'm thinking that Ichigo is quite a fascinating person." It wasn't exactly a lie. The woman was _fascinating_. Yet she was also a little bit of a puzzle as well. And everyone and their uncle knew that Sinbad_ loved_ puzzles.

* * *

Ichigo picked the lock on the door where the others were being kept and slowly entered the room, half expecting someone to attack her. Instead she was suddenly crowded by Uryu and Rukia, both of which- while slightly irked by the situation that they had found themselves in- were far more concerned about her.

"Ichigo!"

"Are you okay? Who are those people?"

Ichigo didn't really respond right away. She was too busy scanning the room for signs of Orihime and Chad. However out of all of her friends, they seemed to have escaped capture for the moment. And while that was good. It also meant that the two of them were on the loose somewhere within the palace unless they had let their curiosity get the best of them, and slipped out a window or something to go and explore.

And that could go either way really. Especially since they didn't know anything about this land, the laws, or it's people.

"Ichigo?" Rukia said in a questioning tone, causing her to look at her.

The past ten years had been kind to Rukia and Renji and many of the other soul reapers that she'd met and befriended since she had been a fourteen year old punk. Whereas the past ten years had changed her greatly.

She was more quiet, subdued and patient than she once was. She kind of couldn't afford to be anything less now that she bore the holy mark of the heir. Being brash and loud and acting like an idiot would have drawn far too much unwanted attention to her.

Especially since the former Soul King had sort of screwed her out of any sort of normalcy that she may have once had by passing his power on to her upon his death.

Sighing, she reached up to rub at her head again. Wondering idly if it was her psychic abilities that were causing her head to hurt so damned much? Or if it was the fact that she had used a small part of her new abilities when she probably shouldn't have?

It was difficult to tell at the moment. She hurt so much right then that all that she wanted to do was _collapse_ somewhere and not move for at least a month. "Ichigo…" Rukia tried again.

"I'm fine." Ichigo said reflexively. Something that she did out of habit because she was so used to the lie that she told to herself and to her friends that she could almost convince herself and them that her words were true. Almost.

"Ichigo, you don't look so good."

She had to resist the urge to laugh like a lunatic upon hearing Rukia's words. Of course she didn't look so good. Everything was fucked up. Who could possibly look good when everything was as fucked up as things were now? She wondered as she felt a pair of hands grasp her by the arms and felt herself being tugged forward until she hit something.

No- that was wrong. She hit Uryu's torso, his arms wrapped around her as she laid her head on the hollow of his shoulder and simply closed her eyes for a moment and let her mind drift a bit. She was unaware of the fact that she was shaking. And even more unaware of the fact that her legs had started to give out on her until she felt the world shift and spin.

And then- and then she was weightless...

* * *

"Ichigo! Ichigo! Uryu- is she okay?" Rukia asked in a panicked tone as her best friend's cousin picked the young woman up and then walked over to the nearest available piece of furniture and set her down in it and then took a moment to carefully arrange her body to allow her as much comfort as possible.

"I think so. Give me a second to double check though." The blue haired man said as he knelt down next to Ichigo and started to check her pulse and pupil dilation before then using a technique for healing that he'd been taught by Urahara to check everything else. "Her pulse is a tad lower than normal, but it's still strong. Her pupil dilation indicates sleep or unconsciousness. Her breathing isn't hindered in any way. Her energy levels are normal- well for her anyways. I think she's just exhausted." He said as he slowly moved to get back to his feet.

"But she collapsed!"

"Yes, I know."

"Then you should know that unless she's injured that isn't exactly normal for Ichigo," Renji said as he moved behind Rukia and laid his hands on her slender shoulders and gave them a light squeeze. "She doesn't even collapse when she's gone days without rest."

"I know," Uryu said with a slight frown. "But at the same time she isn't exactly a normal person anymore so we can't judge her current health using the same process as a normal person either."

"I know that," Rukia snapped in frustration. "But how can we really be sure that she's okay?"

"I think that she's be bleeding or spitting up blood if she wasn't." Renji said with a slightly disgusted look.

Rukia wheeled on her husband so quickly that the man didn't even have time to jump back before she slapped him on the arm. Once, twice...another four or five times before finally stopping.

Of course by this time Renji's arm was thoroughly abused and sore and he was glaring at Rukia as if he'd love nothing more than to throttle her for her violent tendencies. The only thing that was saving her right that moment was the fact that she was four months pregnant and moody.

"What?!" Renji finally said in a defensive tone. "I'm not wrong."

It was true. He wasn't wrong.

They simply didn't like discussing Ichigo in such a state. The poor woman had been violently _ripped_ apart so many times that she could barely function in a normal capacity anymore. It was part of the reason that they had been so alarmed by her disappearance when she had left earlier yesterday morning.

Of course they had never really knew exactly why she had left in the first place. She refused to say anything about her reasons. She had merely stressed upon her return home, while she'd been packing a few things into a duffle bag, that she _had_ to leave again for an unknown amount of time.

_Had to_. The very way that she had phrased her words had set off so many warning bells in their minds that they had practically attacked her and tried to restrain her. Of course that hadn't worked.

But then trying to restrain her from doing something never really did work. Frankly Uryu didn't know why they even continued to try. It wasn't like she couldn't easily escape them if she didn't want too.

And yesterday she had really wanted to. He'd known it before she had all but tossed Renji through a wall and then grabbed Chad's wrist and flipped him over her shoulder as soon as he had touched her. She hadn't done anything to Orihime or Rukia.

Which was both understandable and good.

But she hadn't spared the rest of them any damned violence, that was for sure. Uryu himself had gotten several bruises and suffered a fractured rib or two. The others hadn't fared any better- with the exception of Chad, but that was blatant favoritism at work there.

The guy was her best friend for a reason so of course she was going to be reluctant to injure him. It was even understandable in fact. Uryu just wished that Ichigo had similar reasons to not hurt the rest of them.


	5. Chapter 5

Sinbad and Ja'far along with several others were on their way to speak with the small group of strangers that had 'attacked' Ichigo earlier that morning. Sinbad had had his palace searched for the past hour for any traces or signs of Ichigo upon finally making up his mind on what to do about the woman.

He had finished speaking to each of his generals about his plans- and even they had to admit that there were considerable benifits to what he was planning. And it could only help their people prosper more in the long run.

Not only that, but Aladdin would hate to be separated from his mother. So somehow convincing her to _stay_ in Sindria from now on could only benefit him in the long run as well.

Still...they were in uncharted territory as far as knowledge about her power went. And she didn't exactly act like a normal woman did. She didn't seem all that interested in catching anyone's attention (even if she had). Nor did she seem all that interested in riches and such.

So there was really no telling just how she would react to Sinbad's plan.

Which was why their king had decided to try gathering information from her 'friends'. Once he had the information he desired from them, he could adjust his plans as needed and properly secure Ichigo for their country and it's people.

And maybe even...himself.

* * *

The moment that they heard the door knob move, Renji grabbed Rukia and moved over to where Uryu was. The younger man had already placed himself between the door and Ichigo to protect his unconscious cousin from prying eyes- and any possible harm that may be awaiting them all from whoever was enering the room as the red headed man simply shoved his wife behind him and took up a defensive position.

Subconsciously placing himself between Ichigo, and the door as well.

They had expected guards armed with weapons to enter the room. But instead several people, all of whom were only vaguely familiar to them- entered the room.

"Hello," A tall man with long indigo colored hair said politely once everyone was inside of the room, and the door was shut and locked again. "I hope that you will forgive me and my generals for locking you in here. But we have some questions that I hope that you three can answer for us."

"You'll get no answers about Ichigo nor our home country and our people from us." Came the automatic reply from a glowering, blue haired young man wearing spectacles.

The man tilted his head to the side a little bit and carefully studied them. The two men were young. Probably in their early twenties or so. And they were protective. It would be difficult to get answers from them as long as they felt that he was a threat to them and Ichigo.

Finally he chuckled at them. His expression deceptively kind and calm so that he could lure them into a false sense of security. "Ah, that's understandable. But I didn't come to ask about your home country or it's people- If anything I'd like for us all to be friends."

"Friends don't lock friends up."

"Ah, yes. I do apologize about that. When you're red headed friend attacked Lady Ichigo this morning, we mistakenly thought that you were attempting to kidnap her."

There was a snort from behind one of the men and Sinbad blinked as a small waif-ish young girl peeked out from behind one of them and said, "There was no mistake. We were trying to kidnap her."

"Oh?" Sinbad asked, his tone curious.

"Ichigo doesn't need to stay here more than a little while. To do so is to invite trouble. It would be best for her to return home where we can protect her."

Sinbad tilted his head inquisitively. "And is Lady Ichigo in danger of some kind?" Hoping that one of them would say something. Luckily one of them did.

"Only every moment that she breathes. You wouldn't think it from looking at her- but the woman is a walking, talking trouble magnet. She doesn't go looking for it- but it always finds her. And that's bad in a huge way." The red headed man said as the blue haired man slowly turned his head to the two and snapped at them both to _shut the fuck up_.

The couple fell silent with wide eyed looks of alarm as the blue haired man then turned back to Sinbad and his generals and simply said, "You'll get no further information out of us except what is on this necklace," He held up a strange looking thin silver chain with something flat attached to it with what looked like writing on it. "This contained my name, rank and serial number. In our country- it is the only means of identifying those who have been take prisoner during times of war." He slipped the chain over his head and then tossed the necklace to Sinbad, who caught it deftly in his hand and then held it up to examine it a bit more closely.

His eyes scanning the writing on the pendant.

Uryu Ishida

General, doctor

AB positive

And a series of numbers were underneath it. All of which made no sense to Sinbad despite having a decent understanding of the rest.

"So...you're a general, Mr. Ishida. How very fascinating to have a general from a foreign land in my country."

The man scowled at him and muttered. "I bet." As his two friends slipped their necklaces off and tossed them to him. Sinbad caught those as well and took a moment to read the writing on them.

The woman, Rukia Abarai was a 'guardian'. Though Sinbad could only hazard a guess as that what that meant. Whereas the other man, Renji's necklace mentioned that he was a lieutenant.

Sinbad hummed thoughtfully and handed the necklaces to Ja'far who took a few minutes to study them as well before handing them off to someone else until everyone had had a chance to see them and Sinbad found them in his possession once again.

"Tell me, what do two military men and a...guardian want with my country?"

"We don't want anything but our friend." The blue haired man, Uryu, snapped.

"Lady Ichigo?" Uryu nodded curtly, still scowling. "And what reason could the three of you possibly have to want that poor defenseless woman?"

The three looked at him funny for a moment before the red head suddenly burst into near hysterical laughter earning a dark look from the other two. "Oh, my god. Defenseless? Ichigo? Ha, ha, ha, ha! T-That girl hasn't b-been defenseless s-since her dad took her aside and taught her how to fight when she was seven! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! I-I mean- she totally demolished our military forces by herself when she was fourteen! Ha, ha, ha! A-And then t-t-there was Aizen! T-The man practically achieved g-god like powers and abilities and still got crushed by her at fifteen! Fuck, the brat wasn't even _armed_ with a weapon and she kicked his ass!"

"Rukia, either shut up you're husband or I'm going to kill him and no amount of power or abilities will return him to life."

"Get in line, Uryu. His blood belongs to me." The woman growled angrily as she eyed her husband darkly while the man continued to laugh and stupidly spill everything they had been trying to keep a secret.

"And remember when her baby sister was kidnapped? She literally tore open a hole in reality and dragged us all to hell. Hell! The actual dimension of fire and brimstone and untold agonies and peril! Just to get the kid back! Do you remember how the demons of hell all bowed to her? Bowed! As if she ruled them! And then there is the Soul King- the actual god that rules over all things-" Rukia sighed at this point as Uryu brushed past her cracking his knuckles menacingly and then groaned as the blue haired man reared back his fist and punched Renji in the jaw hard enough to put him on his back on the floor with a dazed look on his face.

While Sinbad and his generals all tried to mask their shocked expressions as carefully as they could.

They had had an idea that the woman was powerful thanks to her healing Hakuryuu's arm. But it had never occurred to any of them just _how_ powerful she was.

It wasn't everyday that they came across someone who was possibly on par with the power of a magi. But Ichigo seemed to have taken things more than a few steps further given what the red haired man had just told them about her defeating armies and even someone who had achieved god-like power.

How the hell could she have beat someone with such power at their beck and call anyways? Sinbad wondered before catching sight of Ichigo slumped over in a large wing back chair that had been hidden behind the blue haired man before he had moved. And felt his jaw drop open as several of his generals noticed the woman's presence as well.

Ja'far made a strained sound in the back of his throat and started forward to go see if the woman was alright when the girl, Rukia suddenly stepped in front of the chair and they felt as well as saw a small, blue-ish white lightening like spark dance along her fingertips as she glared at them threateningly.

"You idiot! What the hell is wrong with you?! What part of shut you're damned mouth did you not understand?!"

"I understand it just fine!"

"If that were true then you wouldn't have said _anything_ in the first damned place!" Uryu shouted as he lifted a leg and started to stomp on Renji. The red head yelped and tried to move away- really he did. But it's a little bit difficult to do when Uryu tracked his every movement and followed him just so that he could stomp on him again and again.

And damn did the bastard's foot hurt.

He and Uryu might have continued their bickering just a little bit longer if not for the fact that they both felt Rukia's energy surge dangerously and the hairs on the back of their neck's rose in alarm.

"Rukia don't-" Uryu said as he turned his head to look at the woman. "You'll hurt the baby."

"One of them was going to make a move on Ichigo." She growled out as she continued to stare down the man in the green robes.

The two men looked from her to the others for a moment as Renji slowly said, "Sweetheart, you can't use your power in you're condition. Ichigo doesn't want anything to happen to you or the baby, remember?"

Rukia opened her mouth to snap at them that she didn't care- but Uryu stopped her with a simple, "Ichigo would cry if anything happened to you and the baby."

Her fingers stopped sparking and she snarled, "I don't want these people near my baby sister!"

Sinbad straightened his back a little bit more upon hearing the girl utter the words 'baby' and 'sister'. It was no wonder she was so protective of Ichigo. They were related. Sinbad mused to himself as Uryu said.

"I know, Rukia. I don't want them near my baby cousin anymore than you do. They want something from her, and we both know that that isn't going to end well for anyone."

Sinbad did a double take at hearing this. And he wasn't the only one either. At least three of his generals all let out a groan. So much for their plans to secure the woman.

_Jesus fuck-_ Just how many relatives had the woman brought with her?! Sinbad wondered as Uryu moved back to his prior position between them and Ichigo and gave the girl a affectionate pat on the shoulder as he told her to take a load off.

Her ankles were starting to swell a bit and if Ichigo woke up to see her in such a state she'd be pissed that she wasn't taking care of herself. Rukia merely rolled her eyes and wandered off to the other side of the room so that she was out of the way.


	6. Chapter 6

"I think we're lost." Orihime muttered as she and Chad walked down yet another hallway.

"Hn."

"I mean, how many hallways can this place have? We can sense the others- but we can't seem to find the right hall to walk down to get to them."

"Hn." Chad hummed again.

"Hey! Is that all you have to say? I mean, aren't you worried about the others getting into trouble?"

"Not really, no."

"But you're worried about Ichigo."

"Yes. You know that she hasn't been the same since the war." Chad said gently as Orihime frowned a little bit.

Chad wasn't wrong. Ichigo hadn't really been the same since the Winter War had taken place ten years ago. She was quieter. She had panic attacks. She jumped sometimes because of the sight of her own shadow. She was cautious, thoughtful, eerily watchful...

And she had only gotten worse over the years since her first disappearance. Granted that she had come back home in one piece, but even she had known that Ichigo was hiding something important from her and the others upon her return. However whatever it was simply seemed to vanish without a trace almost a year in a half after she had returned home.

Leaving her and everyone else with a lot of unanswered questions. All of which had centered around the word, what.

What had Ichigo been hiding from them?

Why did she continuously vanish for weeks and weeks at a time and then return home as if she had never left?

In all honesty, Ichigo's behavior had been more than a little bit confusing over the past ten years. Mostly because the woman wasn't the type to shirk her duties, and simply up and vanish without a trace or even an explanation of any kind to anyone. She was generally pretty good at telling them what the hell was going on.

And yet- and yet that's exactly what she hadn't been doing.

She hadn't bothered to tell any of them anything at all. And they had begun to grow fearful of her disappearances. Worrying that one day she would simply vanish and never return.

"Chad?"

"Hn."

"Why do you think Ichigo wanted to come here so badly?" Orihime asked. It was an innocent enough question. However Chad wasn't going to bother answering her since he didn't really know the answer himself.

I mean, he had a small idea of what it was that Ichigo had wanted to come to this strange new land for. But he didn't really have anything just yet to indicate that he was right.

Orihime looked disappointed as she said sullenly, "You don't know either, do you?"

"Not really."

"That's disappointing."

"Hn."

"Hello!" A voice called out from somewhere behind them, causing them both to pause in mid step and slowly turn to see who was calling out. Chad blinked as a small, blue haired boy with dark blue eyes and a small group of teenagers suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere- well okay, they walked around the corner when the two of them hadn't been paying attention.

But they might as well have appeared out of nowhere. They hadn't sensed _any_ of them at all.

And to him that was the same as teleporting or something. No one was there one second and then _Poof_! And someone was.

"Hello!" The boy chirped happily in greeting.

"Hello." Orihime chirped back, not wanting to be rude.

"I've never seen the two of you around the palace before," The boy stated innocently. "Did you guys come from the village?"

"No. We came from somewhere else far, far away." Orihime said, causing Chad to cast her a strange slant eyed look. "We're trying to find our friends and seem to be lost. Do you think that you can help us?"

"Sure- I can help." The boy said as he started to move towards them when one of his friends grabbed him and hissed out.

"Don't go near them, Aladdin. They're strangers."

The boy blinked up at his friend, not understanding why he seemed so upset as Chad asked, "Aladdin? You're name is Aladdin?"

"Huh?" Aladdin asked unintelligibly before slowly nodding his head in confirmation.

"Is you're mother's name Ichigo?" Chad asked, wanting to be absolutely certain of the boy's identity before he said anything else as the boy asked warily,

"How do you know my mama's name mister?"

Orihime made a weird sound in the back of her throat, her grey eyes wide as Chad scrubbed his face with his hands and muttered a few choice oaths under his breath. Of course. Now it all made sense to him.

"Ichigo and I grew up together. We're best friends." He said as he slowly dropped his hands back to his sides and carefully studied the boy. He was about ten years old from the looks of him. The blue hair was vaguely familiar to him. And the shape and color of his eyes were too.

"Well I'll be damned," He muttered to himself as he knelt down so that he could look at the boy better. Even from the slight distance everything from his build, to his round little face practically screamed of Ichigo to him. "You look just like I remember from when you were a baby."

It wasn't a lie either.

As the person who had known about Ichigo's secret pregnancy and had even been present for the birth of her child, Chad could recall every detail about his best friend's child with absolute perfect clarity.

The boy's friends didn't look like they believed him.

"Do you have proof that you know and are friends with his mother, Lady Ichigo?" The kid with the mis matched eyes and black hair demanded.

"I do." Chad said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He had several pictures of himself, Ichigo and the rest of their friends together. And even had a picture or two of Ichigo holding her baby a little while after he had been born.

Fishing out the pictures that he felt would be most relevant to the situation, he then held them all out for one of the kids to take from him. They hesitated. Which was understandable.

He and Orihime were strangers after all. The kids were being cautious.

It didn't sit well with him considering how much he liked kids and stuff. But he understood the need for caution nevertheless.

Finally the girl separated herself from the small group and walked over and then carefully took the pictures from him and quickly scurried back to the others and began to show them what he had handed her.

"Oh wow." One kid, the blond that had grabbed Aladdin breathed as he took in the image on one of the pics. Chad's lips quirked slightly when he heard Aladdin say excitedly,

"Hey! It's mama! Boy does she look tired. And look at those bandages! Hey, mister, what happened to my mama?"

"She got jumped by some...uh.. jerks and they almost killed her."

"Huh?! But why?!"

"You're mama and I both lived on the dangerous side of town when we were growing up-"

"Like the slums?" The blond kid asked curiously.

Chad frowned for a moment trying to think of what the 'slums' were without asking, and came to the conclusion that it must be a word for the rough side of town. And slowly nodded his head, yes, before continuing on. "There were a lot of bad people that hung around. Because of that we were always getting jumped by people and beaten up. Your mama...she especially tended to get jumped a lot. Back then, people had a bad tendency to hate her."

"But why? My mama is so nice!" Aladdin asked again, looking upset about the fact that his mother had been hated for no reason.

"Yeah she is. You're mama has always been nice." Chad said with a fond smile. "But others didn't like her because she was different. And the differences in your mama- tended to really frighten people sometimes."

"What? How, mister?"

"Hn? I'm not totally sure. She just seems to rub some people the wrong way without even trying... Plus, she was a really mean tempered kid." Chad gave a dry sounding chuckle.

"Huh?!" Aladdin squeaked, not really seeming to comprehend the fact that his mother had been a foul tempered kid.

"So...you really do know Lady Ichigo…" The black haired kid muttered thoughtfully before asking, "What are you doing here in Sindria though? Did you come here on official buisness?"

"Hardly. Ichigo wanted to come here really badly for some reason. She just didn't bother to explain her reasons to us before we came- though I think I get it now. And myself, Orihime-" He indicated the stiff and frozen young woman beside him, watching them all with keen interest with a stupefied look on her face. "And several others all came with her to keep her out of trouble."

"Trouble?" The red haired girl asked curiously. Chad hummed and nodded his head.

"Yeah, she's always getting herself into mischief of some kind."

"I see..." The dark haired teen said as Aladdin collected all of the pictures and then broke away from the group to trot over to Chad and hold them out to him.

"Have you seen them all?" Chad asked curiously as the boy nodded sagely. Reaching out, Chad slowly took the pictures from the boy and then started to shuffle them a little bit until he came across the pic of Ichigo holding Aladdin as a baby and quickly separated it from the others and then held it back out to the boy. "Here kid. You should keep this one. It's probably one of my favorite pictures of your mother."

Aladdin blinked at him and then slowly retook the picture from his hand and looked at it for a moment before smiling at him. "Okay." He said before skipping back over to his friends and stuffing the picture in the side of his sash before then saying. "Hey! Why don't we take you to mama! I'm sure that she'd be happy to see you."

"That would be nice. Orihime and I have been trying to find her for what seems like forever now."

"You've really been lost that long mister?"

"Since sometime yesterday evening."

"Wow, that's bad." Aladdin said sheepishly before then asking, "Hey, if you two have been lost here for that long- how did you get by the guards?"

"There are guards?"

* * *

Ichigo woke up to the low drum of voices speaking, and a raging migraine and a horrible sense of disorientation. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment giving her the opportunity to cast a cursory look at her surrounding as she flared her energy ever so slightly to let her friends know that she was awake. And slightly in distress.

"Ichigo!" She heard someone call out again, this time louder as strong callused hands lightly framed her face and tilted her head back on her neck a little bit. She opened her eyes again, turquoise clashing with the familiar dark blue of her cousin and mumbled out a somewhat slurry greeting.

"Are you alright?" Uryu asked softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Disoriented. Migraine."

He frowned for a moment and then asked, "Nausea?"

"Don't think so."

"Dizziness?"

"I haven't moved much- so not sure."

"Do you want to try standing to check?"

"There's nothing that I can crack my head open on, is there?" She asked warily. Uryu shook his head no for a moment before then saying,

"No. But I'll keep hold of you're arm just in case."

"Okay," She said as he took hold of her arm and slowly stepped to the side a little bit as she stood up and automatically staggered from a wicked case of vertigo as she felt Uryu's grip shift so that he had her around the shoulders and pulled her in close to his chest as she squeaked out. "I need to sit back down...everything is spinning."

"I can see that." Uryu said dryly as he pushed her gently back down into the chair and then knelt down as someone else asked,

"Is she okay?"

Ichigo frowned at the voice since it wasn't one that she seemed to recognize at the moment as Uryu growled out a loud and very _irked_ sounding, "No." And then went to work on checking her pulse and other things. He had to lay his head on her chest to listen to her heart and lungs- to make sure that she wasn't having any real issues from them like she used to.

"You're pulse is good. It's faster than it was earlier. You're heart and lungs sound good- are you in any pain? Having difficulty breathing?"

"No. I seem to be okay there."

"That's good," Uryu said with a relieved smile. "I doubt that you remembered to bring your medicine if you suffer an attack. So we need to avoid that until I can get-" Ichigo did this weird motion with her hand and a weird looking bottle with writing on it appeared in the palm of her hand. Uryu scowled at her and took the bottle from her before saying, "_Don't. Do. That. Again_. The last thing you need is to use you're power more than you probably already have. Especially since it makes you this sick."

"I'm fine, Uryu. I just over extended myself a little bit. I should be fine again in another hour or two." Ichigo said flippantly as Rukia walked up and grasped one of her hands.

"Ichigo...we've been worried." She said softly. Ichigo gave her a wry smile and then took a moment to look her over.

"The baby okay?"

"The baby's fine. My ankles are just swollen a little bit." Rukia said with a slight shrug and let out a startled yelp as Ichigo reached out and quickly pulled her into her lap and settled her chin on the top of her head.

"There, that should help some."

"Hey! Don't be trying to steal my wife Ichigo!" Renji growled at her.

Ichigo cast him a oddly fierce look before snapping, "Fuck you asshole- I had her first." Causing Uryu to turn his head and put a hand over his mouth to stifle his laughter while Renji's jaw dropped open in comical horror while Rukia merely turned her head so that it was buried against her friend's shoulder and gave in to a hysterical fit of laughter as Ichigo then said with an almost feral looking smile, "P.S. My dick is bigger than yours. Now piss off and let me cuddle _my_ Ruki." She said as she rubbed her cheek against the top of the girl's head with a taunting smirk.

* * *

Sinbad watched the whole spectacle silently with his generals. His expression varying from shock, horror, amusement- and now astonishment. _So this is what she's like when she's with friends_. He'd be lying if he said that he hadn't been curious to see a bit more of personality.

So far, she'd been oddly quiet, and fairly subdued. Even with the few smiles that she had cast Aladdin's way. She didn't seem to express herself very much.

Though he'd seen the strangely uncharacteristic that she had handled Hakuryuu when he had lashed out and hit her. To be perfectly honest, he'd expected her to get angry. Maybe even hit the boy back. But she had been so patient and self-controlled. Chalking his lashing out up to his youth.

It had been...well, just plain _peculiar_ to him.

But seeing her like this now- teasing her friend, even when she wasn't feeling well at the moment. It felt...right...to him. Nothing odd, or peculiar, or wrong.

Just right.

As if before she had been a doll of some sort and now- she was alive. The sudden change in her was interesting to say the least. And definitely amusing to bear witness too. The four seemed to be having such fun, it was almost more than he could bear watching without deciding to join in.

In fact he was about to clear his throat and say something when the door opened and he heard Aladdin's voice say, "Mama's in here. Come on." as the door opened a little wider and the boy slipped inside of the room and scanned it before making a beeline for Ichigo as the door opened wider and a tall- dear lord was the guy tall! He was nearly the same size as Hinahoho. And from his muscular build, he could only be a warrior of some kind- slipped in the room causing the bickering pair to stop and Ichigo gave a blinding smile.

"Hey Chad. Orihime." She greeted as she set Rukia back on her feet next to the chair just in time for Aladdin to jump on her giggling.


	7. Chapter 7

Ichigo wrapped her arms around Aladdin and held the giggling boy on her lap as Chad eyed her for a moment after giving the group of strangers a small, awkward finger wave to acknowledge their presence in the room. He got a few curt nods from some of them, but the rest remained perfectly still as if they were afraid to even breathe at the moment.

They were observing them. He noted. Which he would have found strange if not for the fact that it was perfectly understandable considering that they didn't know any of them.

"We felt you're power spike a little while ago and were trying to find you. Are you alright?" He asked Ichigo as he watched Aladdin curl up in her arms. The boy looked as content as a oversized kitten. He was so happy that it was a wonder that he wasn't purring.

"I'm fine," Ichigo said as she carefully arranged Aladdin so that he was leaning against her torso, with his head resting on one of her breasts. "A little bit dizzy and I have a migraine," She shrugged slightly before continuing. "It's nothing that I can't handle though."

"Good. I don't like it when you make yourself sick." He said as he saw Orihime off to the side of them whispering in Uryu's ear and sighed. Wondering if he should take Aladdin and remove him from the room to keep him from being frightened or upset by the inevitable chaos that their little group was about to fall into.

Ichigo must have realized what was about to happen from simply looking at the steadily darkening expression on Uryu's face. Because she then stood up and handed the child to him, earning a whine of protest from the boy before then motioned with her head for him to leave the room.

Chad nodded and wrapped his arms around the boy and then made a beeline for the door when all of a sudden he heard Rukia and Renji both shout in unison, _"What?!"_ Followed by Uryu angrily snarling, "What the hell do you mean Ichigo has a kid?!"

And stopped barely two feet from the door and sighed.

_Damn. So close_. He thought darkly before then handing Aladdin off to one of his friends. The red haired girl took one look at him and then glanced over at Ichigo in concern and seemed to understand what was going on without even being told. Because she turned and practically bolted for the door so quickly that he let out a low whistle.

Impressed by just how fast she moved. Even while carrying the protesting boy's slight weight.

Scrubbing his face with his hands he then dropped them back to his sides and curled his fingers into tight fists before moving away from the other two kids who stood there, oddly curious about what was going on. As well as the rest of the strangers in the room.

_Oh this is going to end poorly_. He thought as he went to stand next to Ichigo, and waited for the upcoming explosion while reaching out to place his hand on one of her slender shoulders and giving it a slight squeeze to indicate that he was right there. If she needed him to_ break_ something- then he would.

Even if it was simply someone's jaw.

"What the hell is Orihime talking about?" Renji demanded in an angry tone. "You have a kid? You can't have a kid. You aren't even married. Hell you've never even looked at a guy. Much less had sex with one!" Renji ranted as he pointed at her.

Ichigo didn't say anything. She merely crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the man as Uryu cut in.

"Oh god, the mental images..." Uryu croaked. "Ichigo, please tell me that Orihime is just imagining things..." The blue haired man pleaded. _Pleaded_. Uryu never pleaded. Not even when his life was threatened. He simply had too much pride to bother.

Yet he was pleading now. And despite Ichigo's indifferent expression, Chad could tell that this fact bothered her, greatly. Still...she didn't bother to respond and Uryu took that as a confirmation to what he'd been told by Orihime and began to pull at his hair in frustration and to swear colorfully.

Rukia spoke up next. Though she didn't seem angry about this particular discovery.

If anything she seemed to be slightly disappointed by Ichigo not sharing her secret with her. But she also seemed to suddenly understand Ichigo's random coming's and going's over the last ten years, a little bit better. "Well, having had a child in secret _would_ certainly explain a lot of things."

Both Uryu and Renji turned on the woman. _"Huh?!"_

"Well, _think_ about it. Ichigo hasn't been acting like herself since the Winter War ended. She rarely speaks. She disappears without a moment's notice without telling anyone anything and stays gone for weeks, sometimes even months at a time before returning home again. She's never said anything about _why_. Or where she goes. And then there was the fact that ten years ago after the war, she secluded herself and refused to so much as see any of us for a year and a half."

"But that-"

Rukia held her hand up to silence the two before continuing, "What if during that time she was pregnant? What if she was pregnant and didn't want anyone to know for obvious reasons? I mean, between the stress of her everyday life, her duties, fighting, and keeping everything from descending into utter chaos- Not to mention the fact that she has status as a divine vessel and is our leader..."

Uryu sighed tiredly, understanding where Rukia was going with this before adding, "And then there's the others. The more_ radical_ people that she's usually surrounded by- they wouldn't have taken kindly to her having a kid. While not all of them would have thought _ill_ of her; the rest would have. They would have even maybe seen the kid as a usurper to Ichigo's current position as divine vessel and our leader and they would have sought to kill... Jesus, no wonder she didn't _say_ anything. She couldn't take the chance of anybody learning that she was in a vulnerable state. Nor could she take the chance that those who would have thought ill of her and the kid- Shit."

"No wonder she's so damned tight lipped about stuff. She didn't think that she could trust us." Renji groaned out as he finally seemed to understand and Orihime finally decided to chime in with her thoughts on the matter.

"You're wrong. Ichigo knows that she can trust us. _She always has_. The fact that she has a kid, doesn't mean that she ever stopped. It's everyone else that she doesn't trust. After all, this is considered to be delicate information. If the wrong person ever found out then... H-How would she be able to protect herself if the kid got kidnapped and used as a hostage? How would she protect the child too? Ichigo may be a juggernaut in a fight. But throw a _defenseless child_ into the mix and it would be an absolute blood bath greater than anything the world has ever seen before."

"Okay, we get it. Please don't say anymore, Orihime." Uryu sighed before looking at his cousin again and asking, "Is the father still in the picture?"

Ichigo looked away from him and Uryu damned near choked on his tongue before snarling, "_Oh hell no!_ You mean that some sorry bastard got you pregnant and didn't even bother to stick around?!" Ichigo kept her eyes on the wall. Suddenly finding it far more fascinating than she should have as Uryu growled out. "That's it! I want a name and location and I want them both right now! I'll go and give the son of a bitch a piece of my mind and-"

"He's dead."

"HUH?" Uryu practically shouted at her. "What the hell do you mean? He's dead?" And then quickly asked in another pleading tone, "Please tell me that you didn't kill him?"

Ichigo actually flinched and looked uncomfortable at the question.

After all, she _had_ technically killed him. It was a mercy killing, sure. But it had been done because he had been suffering horribly and he had asked her to finish him because he couldn't heal himself. And also how exactly was she supposed to explain to them that when the Soul King had died- after giving her his power- that he'd left her with the little surprise that was her son? It's not like it was something that was commonly done.

While she was trying to think of some way to tell them what they wanted to know without giving the Soul King's identity away to them and the other occupants of the room, she caught slight movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced over at the people that had been taking care of Aladdin up till now.

The nine adults looked strangely enraptured by the turn in conversation.

Likely because they were both curious about everything and trying to wrap their minds around some of the other things mentioned before by the others.

* * *

Sinbad propped his chin in his hand and listened carefully.

His mind running rampant with all kinds of neat ideas and questions. Not only that but he had already sorted for himself specific details about Ichigo that positively made him _itch_ to secure the woman for himself and Sindria.

The fact that she had killed Aladdin's father didn't bother him overly much. He already knew that Ichigo was more dangerous than she appeared to be. Not only that, but he could also tell that there was more to the story considering just how _guilty_ she had looked when asked if she had killed him.

So perhaps killing him had been an accident or...something similar?

Either way it didn't matter.

Mostly because he was intrigued by the fact that her friends had referred to her as a_ divine vessel_. Now he may not be the most educated person on the planet, nor the most intelligent. But he understood very well what the word, divine, meant.

And the fact that referring to Ichigo as divine vessel both told everything that he really needed to know about her and at the same time absolutely nothing at all. Her friends were likely using the reference because they simply didn't want to come out and say- _godly._

They also spoke of her status.

He would imagine that that was also a reference to her 'divine' status. Which meant that he couldn't try to sway her into being his concubine like he'd originally planned. Though the thought _had_ crossed his mind. After all, she was a lovely woman with exotic beauty. She would have served him well as a concubine. And Aladdin was nearing the age where he would need a father figure to...teach him things.

However he was fairly certain that she would find the offer more than a tad bit insulting to her delicate sensibilities.

He supposed that he could offer her marriage- lord knew that it was well past time for him to settle down and get to work on an heir or two...dozen, so that his kingdom would be passed on to his future children. After all, he wasn't going to live forever.

And the fact that she was still unmarried pleased him. So perhaps she would consider being his queen and consort? He would have a wife, a bedmate, an adoptive son, future heirs, and his bloodline would have great power and potential. It all sounded so good to him that he couldn't wait to speak with her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Filler chap!**

* * *

Finally, Sinbad couldn't seem to contain himself anymore- and politely cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. Ichigo and her friends all looked at him and he was hard pressed to keep the smile off of his face as he said, "As interesting as all of this...information is-" And it was. Very, _very_ interesting. "I would like to speak with Lady Ichigo, if I may." Though the words were still politely spoken there was no mistaking his manner as one that was asking for permission.

Everyone suddenly clamed up, cutting the droning of their voices dying to nothing as they waited for him to speak. As he straightened his spine and stared at the woman before slowly saying, "Lady Ichigo, I would like to speak with you about...the future of this fine country. And the role that I wish you to take up in it."

The young woman frowned at him, her turquoise eyes narrowing slightly. Chad made a weird little choking sound and had to avert his face to hide the twitching of his lips.

Ichigo already didn't like the way that the guy was speaking to her. He could tell by how deceptively relaxed she was keeping herself. As if she were gearing up for a fight. The looser her muscles were, the faster and easier she could react.

And she _would_ react.

He could already tell that the guy was going to say or do something stupid.

"I had initially wanted to offer you the honored position of royal concubine," Rukia, Orihime and Uryu all gasped in shock and horror before they all groaned aloud. _Strike one. _Chad thought darkly, anger beginning to rise up in the center of his chest. "However upon...learning more about you from sitting here and listening to the many_ interesting_ topics of conversation today. Instead, I would like to offer you the position of Queen of my country. It would mean that we would have to marry-" _Strike two_. Chad thought with a huff as the guy kept digging himself deeper and deeper. "And of course you would be expected to rule at my side and help to run the country, manage my household, warm my bed, and bear my children-" _And strike three._..

Any minute now, Ichigo was going to string the fool up by his own hair and beat him with a stick before she walked off.

"I'm going to stop you right there," Ichigo finally said in a low tone. Her expression grim as he stopped talking and quietly shut his mouth. "Because everything that you have said so far has been said with the foolish notion that I will relent. Well...I won't. There is nothing that you can offer- no position nor honor so great- that I will give in to the temptation of abandoning my home, my family or my friends to be used as both a _toy_ and a _pawn_."

"You refuse then?" The guy sounded astonished. And...maybe a little bit confused. As if it had never occurred to him that Ichigo would turn his proposal- if one could call it that- down.

"I do. You're proposal not only sucks. It sucks _badly_. There isn't a single solitary thing that you can offer me that would tempt me anyways. I already have everything that I could ever need." She said with a slight shrug.

"What of Aladdin? He is at the crucial point in his life-"

"Chad-" Ichigo cut Sinbad off.

"Hn?"

"Congratulations on your promotion. You're Aladdin's dad now." She said as she tipped her head back with a smile. Chad stupidly lifted a hand to point at himself as if he couldn't believe that she would name him the boy's father.

Then again, this was Ichigo.

If she felt that the kid needed a dad- and I mean, really needed one- then he was the next best thing to an actual husband to her. She knew enough about him to know that he'd take care of the kid if anything ever happened to her. And she also knew that he already liked the kid.

How could he not? The boy was a part of her.

Blushing a little bit, he smiled bashfully as Renji walked over and slapped him on the back and said happily. "Way to go man! I always knew that you'd be the father of Ichigo's...uh...kid? Speaking of- where is the little tyke? Shouldn't he be here to bond with his new dad?"

"He's with his pretty red haired friend."

Renji smiled at her and patted her on the head as he said, "You're a good mom, Ichigo."

She hummed but said nothing more as Sinbad sighed and said, "Well...in all honesty I didn't expect you to turn me down. Usually women are throwing themselves at me to get in my bed and to get a chance at my throne. It's..._unsettling_ to me to meet a woman that isn't interested in such things even in the smallest degree. However- I can respect your choice. After all, I understand more than you may think about duty. And it's very obvious that you're duty to your homeland and your friends means a lot to you."

"I sense a 'but' in there somewhere." Ichigo muttered. Sinbad merely grinned at her.

_Astute woman_.

"You are correct. I can respect your choice- but for as long as you are staying here, I reserve the right to actively pursue you."

Everyone groaned again, wishing that he'd just take a hint and leave Ichigo alone already.

"Let me get this straight, I refuse you. And since I'll be here for a while, you want to pursue me anyways?"

"Yes. I'm confident that I can change your mind." Sinbad said jovially.

"I'm confident that this arrangement will likely end in bloodshed." Uryu muttered quietly as he shook his head in dismay. And from the look of sheer ire on Ichigo's face, she agreed with his assessment wholeheartedly.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm sorry...**

* * *

"Well, if you're finished declaring your intentions... I'd like to get my friends out of here and get some food into Rukia and Hime." Ichigo said after several awkward moments of silence.

"Yes, of course." Sinbad said politely as he waved his generals towards the door before then saying. "I would imagine that you are quite hungry yourself since you weren't able to eat anything before. I'll have something set out for you and you're friends-" She nodded her head quietly before he then said. "Provided of course that you allow me to begin wooing you immediately."

Ichigo blinked at him and then sighed.

_Stubborn fool._ She thought to herself. What was with men and not knowing how to take 'no' for an answer? Was it an ego thing? Something in the water? Stupidity maybe?

Honestly if she had been interested in a guy- any guy for that matter- then he wouldn't have to woo her. She would be the one wooing _him_.

And she wasn't going to lie, the whole gender reversal wooing thing tended to get more than a little bit painfully awkward for her. Especially since she wasn't the type of person who bought into the whole _female_ stereotype thing.

When someone tried to woo her- if they gave her flowers- she sneezed. Because of hay fever and pollen and all.

When someone asked her out for dinner, she tended to pay for herself. Not because she didn't like to be treated, but because most guys didn't really clarify that they were on a date in the first place. And she didn't want to be thought of as a moocher. When someone sent her an expensive and extravagant gift... She felt as if they were trying to buy her affections and ripped the items to pieces and then sent them back to them.

So naturally...she didn't see the man courting her as a very good thing.

Especially since he was doing it only to use her for her power and title.

She heaved a tired sigh and then reluctantly nodded her head and watched him as he grinned at her before then quietly excusing himself. Aladdin's two friends started to leave to- however she caught Hakuryuu by the wrist before he could leave the room and then spun him around and maneuvered him to stand in front of Chad and then placed a hand on his head and said, "And this is my second son, Hakuryuu. He's a very nice boy. And I know that you'll help me raise him well."

Chad merely nodded his head and said nothing. While Hakuryuu twisted his head around to look at Ichigo with a confused look on his face. What did she mean by- he was her second son?

He opened his mouth to ask her when the red headed man stopped him by walking over to him and slipping an arm around his shoulders and whispering to him, "Not many people in the world can say that they were adopted by a god in human form, just roll with it kid."

Hakuryuu shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth and stood there wide eyed for several heartbeats as Chad placed his hand on top of his head and said. "Come on, son. Let's go find you're baby brother."

Causing him to mutter an unintelligible, "Huh?!" Before he was picked up by the giant and carried out of the room fussing and calling for help hysterically as Uryu walked over to Ichigo and asked softly,

"Is this a good idea? Letting that guy try and win you over?"

"Maybe," Ichigo muttered as she waved at Hakuryuu with a small bemused look on her face. "I know that he's only interested in me for what he can gain from me. My power, my title, even Aladdin are in the crosshairs here. And I don't like it. But as long as we're here, there isn't much that I can do about it."

"So you just intend to roll with it?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'd hate to have to kill him. Especially since my son and his friends are attached to him. Besides, it isn't as if he'll get very far with me anyways."

"That's true. You are rather hopeless when it come's to men, dating and..._other_ things."

"Sex, Uryu. Sex."

"Ewww. Don't say that word! I don't need the mental images of you naked and doing the nasty with some random-"

"She's fucked Chad before." Rukia suddenly blurted out causing Uryu to abruptly shut his mouth for a moment before then shouting,

"OH MY FUCKING GOD- Chad! EW! The mental images, the mental images! Is his penis as big- I mean from a medical standpoint- _no!_ Ichigo- _What the hell is wrong with you?!_"

Ichigo was torn between laughing and cringing at Uryu's little meltdown.

Really she was. Only Uryu would scream at her for having needs like any other red blooded, healthy adult. Not to mention start to ask if Chad's penis really was as _big_ as he thought it was. She'd have to ask Chad to drop trou later and let Uryu check his dick out.

It would mortify them both and be good for a nice laugh or two. Plus if she planned things just right, it would psyche out the guy trying to woo her. After all, Chad's dick could be considered a lethal weapon to any vain man's ego. And that indigo haired idiot was obviously very vain.

So why not have some fun with that?

She looked over at Rukia who was standing there with her hand over her mouth and looking all wide eyed and worried. And simply smiled at her, and then turned and started to walk out of the room when she heard the woman whimper out, "She's going to kill me."

"Then you probably shouldn't have blurted out that she slept with Chad." Orihime said in a chastising tone.

"I didn't mean too. It just...sort of came out." Rukia whined.

Orihime hummed and then suddenly asked. "Wait! How did you even know that they slept together anyways?"

"I kinda, sort of walked in on them by mistake."

"Really? I can't imagine Ichigo forgetting to lock a door."

"Oh she didn't. Even so- Chad didn't stop."

"Huh?!"

"Yeah, he knew that I was there the whole time and even looked me straight in the eye and just..." Rukia did this weird hand motion thing as her face turned red.

"Oh my god!" Orihime said in a shocked tone.

"Yeah..." Rukia said awkwardly.

"So Chad's sort of a voyeur?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Orihime thought for a moment and then grinned. "So he liked being watched."

"Yeah. I...suppose so. It certainly didn't motivate him to stop any. Though it embarrassed the hell out of Ichigo once they were done."

"She saw you?"

"Yeah. When I tried to sneak away."

"Wow."

Uryu and Renji both sighed as they listened to their women prattle on about the incident all while thinking that the girls were having the weirdest conversation ever in the history of weird conversations.


End file.
